


Monster in the Alleyway

by Silverbreeze424



Category: Half-Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Joshua adopts Benrey more than the other way around, M/M, Not A Game AU, Post-Canon, They/Them Pronouns for Benrey (Half-Life), This is more found family than romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:07:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28909818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverbreeze424/pseuds/Silverbreeze424
Summary: Joshua Freeman takes out the trash one night, and makes friends with the monster in they alleyway.
Relationships: Benrey & Joshua Freeman, Benrey/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 8
Kudos: 138





	Monster in the Alleyway

**Author's Note:**

> This is BARELY a Frenrey fic! Come here for the Joshua and Benrey fluff, nothing romantic. Sorry to disappoint but I am not immune to found family

He first met Benrey when he was taking out the trash, because no matter what Dad said he was big enough to carry the trash bag out and open up the trash can.

Benrey was _big_ , but they were curled up all small like they were hurt or scared, and they jolted when Joshua opened the door. Their eyes were yellow and glowing and if Joshua weren’t such a big kid he would have been scared.

But Benrey wasn’t scary, because they were still curled up and looked like they were scared of _him_. They also looked like they were hurt, because their clothes were all bloody and torn up.

Joshua wasn’t good at dealing with hurt, but Dad was, so he opened his mouth and barely got out the first letter before Benrey lunged at him, clasping a hand almost the size of his whole head over his mouth. That’s when Joshua decided Benrey was kind of scary, but only a little bit.

“Sh, don’t call your dad, uh, don’t do that.” Benrey said in a rough voice, eyes darting nervously towards the door, before jumping back to Joshua. “You’re Joshua right? Joshie? Baby Freeman?”

Joshua batted Benrey’s hand away. “No, I’m a big kid,” he said, because he was. If he was a baby he would have ran away, and he was still here talking to the monster in the alleyway.

And a monster they were- they were big, taller than Dad, but probably not as tall as Uncle Tommy, but they were wider. The hand that had been clasped over Joshua’s mouth was thick and paw like and covered in thin dark fur and had sharp claws. Their hair was pitch black and messy and Joshua couldn’t see their hairline because they had a shadow over their eyes. 

“But you’re Joshua? Yes?” Benrey asked, eyes darting towards the door again. 

“Daddy says not to talk to strangers, and especially not to tell them my name,” Joshua said stubbornly, crossing his arms.

Benrey blinked, and hissed out a few yellow-white orbs. They were really pretty and Joshua liked the noise they made coming out, but he wasn’t swayed.

“I’m uh, I’m Benrey,” they said, squatting down in front of Joshua, which was rude, but it was ok because they weren’t human and Joshua’s neck was starting to hurt from looking up at them anyway. “Now we aren’t strangers so answer my question please?”

Well, Joshua couldn’t argue with that logic. He nodded.

“Cool, great,” Benrey said, like they didn’t think it was very cool great at all. “Alright, now listen to me young man, I am talking directly into your ear now. I need you to do me a favor. You will do this for me. I need you to not tell your dad I’m out here. Please? Thank you.”

Joshua didn’t know why they said most of the words but he got the message loud and clear- Dad isn’t supposed to know about Benrey.

“Why?” Joshua asked.

Benrey looked away, and fell back to be sitting instead of squatting. They started picking at their hands, but it looked painful because their claws were really sharp. His dad did that a lot- less now that one of his hands was made out of metal- so Joshua did the same thing for Benrey as he did for his dad. He reached out and pried Benrey’s hands apart and held them. Benrey stared at their intertwined hands, looking confused and a little scared, but they didn’t pull away, even as Joshua started fiddling with them.

“Uh, what’s up with this, little man? Why are we holding hands?”

“Because you were gonna hurt yourself.” Joshua said. “Dad used to pick at his hands when they were all dry and he’d bleed and it would look really painful and he didn’t even have claws.” 

“Oh,” Benrey bounced their hands up and down. “Cool. You’re cool.” 

Joshua smiled, and was about to respond, when-

“Joshie? I told you the trash can lid was too heavy!” Dad called, and Benrey pulled their hands away as if burned.

“I got it Daddy!” Joshua called back, glancing at Benrey, who had scampered back to where Joshua had first found them and pressed themself tightly into the corner, staring at him with wide, pleading eyes. “I found a cat!”

Dad laughed, sounding closer now. “Lemme see, kiddo.”

The door opened, and light flooded the alleyway. Benrey flinched, but Joshua only saw it out of the corner of his eye, because he was pushing Dad back inside. 

“It already ran away.” Joshua said, and the door shut behind them both.

oOo

Joshua started taking the trash out every time, and almost every time Benrey was in the alleyway, sitting in the corner or pacing up and down the length or sprawled out looking at the sky for hours on end. Sometimes they talk, and Benrey always says or does something that makes Joshua laugh, and sometimes they just sit in silence, because Benrey seems very lonely.

“Why are you out here?” Joshua asked one day, laying on the dirty alleyway ground with his head resting on Benrey’s stomach.

“I don’t have anywhere else to be,” Benrey answered, and Joshua frowned, because that was sad. 

“Where’s your family?”

“Don’t have any.”

“Your friends?”

Benrey huffed, like they want to laugh. “I don’t have any of those either. I thought I did but then I did something really bad and I don’t know if any of them even really liked me in the first place.” 

Joshua frowned, because that was very sad, even sadder than having no family.

“Were you and Daddy friends?”

“Ya. Uuuuh no. I thought so. But I don’t think Dadman did. I uuuh. I hurt him the worst, even if I didn’t think I was. Hurting him. I mean.”

Joshua frowned up at the sky. It looks like it might rain later.

“You should apologize. Daddy’s really nice, so he’ll forgive you.”

Benrey laughed, but it sounds really sad, and they sat up, which made Joshua sit up.

“Nah, it’s cool,” they said in a voice that suggested it wasn’t really cool. They were looking away from Joshua. “I don’t need him to forgive me.”

Joshua frowned, but Dad called for him to come in, so he did. Benrey still didn’t look at him.

oOo

A few days later, it rained, and even though Joshua didn’t need to take the trash out, he went outside and found Benrey curled up in their corner, shaking a little and glaring up at the sky. 

“Daddy’s gone.” Joshua said, and Benrey jumps, looking a bit panicked. Benrey made a few noises that seem like they’re trying to be words, before Joshua realized why they look so scared.

“Not permanently! He’s out with the science team and he let me stay home alone! Which is good, because it’s raining! Do you wanna come in?”

Benrey hesitated, but thunder crashes up above and they flinched, and then nodded. When they stood up, they were shaking even harder, and looked like they were gonna fall over, so Joshua took their hand and lead them inside.

Benrey didn’t tug away, but their steps were careful and hesitant, like they were walking in a museum that was too small for them. They kept glancing around, like they expect Dad to show up and yell at them at any moment. As much as Joshua wanted to give them time to adjust, he had a lot of things he wanted to do with Benrey and no idea when Dad’s coming back.

“You need a shower.” Joshua said first, tugging Benrey towards the shower.

“You saying I’m stinky?”

  
  
“Uh-huh,” Joshua agreed with a giggle. Benrey snorted.

“Mean. Disrespectful young man. Your words hurt, you know,” Benrey said, but they sounded amused, so Joshua wasn’t worried. He tugged them into the bathroom, and pushed them towards the shower. 

oOo

A few minutes later, Benrey was sitting on the floor of Joshua’s bedroom, fiddling with all of Joshua’s favorite toys as he brushed their hair. 

Joshua had introduced all of them one by one, and once Benrey had met them all, they just held a brown dog plushy- Pudding- in their lap and weathered his ears between their fingers like they had never felt anything like it before.

After a while spent in silence, there was the loud noise of the front door slamming open, followed by Dad’s voice calling out, “Joshie, I’m home! You ok?”

Benrey and Joshua both jumped, Benrey’s claws barely avoiding digging into Pudding’s soft plush body as they went tense. Joshua leaped to his feet.

“Yeah Dad, I’m ok!” He insisted, pulling Benrey up to their feet and dragging them towards the closet. Benrey stumbled to follow, free hand still clutching Pudding. 

Dad’s footsteps were approaching. Joshua pushed Benrey into the closet. The door to Joshua’s bedroom opened, just as Joshua closed the door to the closet.

“Hi, Daddy!”

Dad stood in the doorway, surveying the scene with suspicion.

“Howdy, Cowboy. Whatcha doin’ over there?”

“Putting my toys away!” Joshua explained quickly.

Dad raised an eyebrow, and wordlessly gestured to the pile of toys on the floor. Joshua cringed. 

“Not all of them.”

Dad squinted at Joshua. Joshua looked back, fighting hard to keep a straight face. Dad sighed. 

“Whatever you say, kiddo. But I got an eye on you.” He pointed to his eyes with two fingers, and then at Joshua. Joshua stuck his tongue out, and Dad snorted, the standoff coming to an end. “Come on, cowboy, let’s make dinner.”

Joshua glanced at Benrey through the slots of his closet door. Benrey blinked back at him with wide, slightly glowing yellow eyes. Joshua left the room.

oOo

By the time Joshua returned to his room, Benrey was gone, Pudding placed on his bed, and the window wide open.

oOo

Joshua was a big kid, which meant he definitely didn’t scream when he heard something tap against his window, no matter what anyone else might have heard. He just hoped he hadn’t woke up Dad, because Dad already didn’t sleep enough and also Joshua wasn’t supposed to be awake.

He glanced to the window, and the only thing he could see in the dark of the night were two glowing yellow eyes. A month ago, seeing something like that would have scared him very badly, but now it just had him grinning. He dropped his toys and ran over to the window.

“Benny!” Joshua exclaimed, throwing the window open. Benrey grinned, showing off their shark teeth. 

“Thought you’d be asleep, kiddo.” Benrey scolded. “But I’m glad you’re not- come on, get out here.”

“But- were on the second floor! How’s you even get up here?”

Benrey released the wall with one hand, showing off the strange texture of their palms.

“I unlocked- Spider-Man. I’m Spider-Man now. Peter Parker wants what I have.” 

Joshua frowned.

“You got bit by a spider?”

“Uh, no. I can just-“ Joshua watched as their hand returned to normal, once again coated in void black fur. 

“Woah!”

Benrey smiled. “Haven’t really had to, but after I had to complete the stealth mission, Operation Don’t Get Seen By Gordad, I uh…” Benrey went quiet for a moment, staring blankly over Joshua’s shoulder. “Yeah. Come out please? I wanna show you something. Please and thank you? Yes.”

Joshua paused, because he couldn’t make his hands all sticky like that. But, Benrey was asking, and Benrey wouldn’t let him get hurt. He crawled out onto the windowsill, and Benrey scooped him up, depositing him onto their back. They held him there with two arms, and gripped the wall with two more. If Joshua didn’t trust and like Benrey as much as he did, it would be kind of scary, but he decided it was pretty cool instead. 

“Hold on? Just in case please.”

Joshua did so, wrapping arms around Benrey’s neck and burying his face in their hair- it was really soft, now that it was clean. 

Joshua squeaked as Benrey started to scale the wall, gripping even tighter, but before he knew it, they were on the roof, and Benrey was letting him down. 

Joshua settled on the roof, and looked around- it was nothing he hadn’t seen before. The houses and trees and roads were all familiar, and so were the stars above, but it was all from an angle he’d never seen before. He glanced over to Benrey, who was giving Joshua an expectant look.

“It’s really pretty, Benny!”

Benrey smiled, an expression softer than his usual grin. It was an expression he was more used to seeing on Dad. 

Joshua leaned against Benrey, and stared up at the stars. He didn’t remember falling asleep, but he woke up in bed with the covers drawn up over him.

oOo

Joshua was a big kid, but Dad insisted that even big kids had nightmares, so he wasn’t embarrassed when he woke up screaming. He was scared, though, because his dream had been really scary. What was even scarier was the two voices yelling his name at once.

Dad was in the doorway, prosthetic off and looking frazzled, and Benrey was crawling through the window. They were both looking at Joshua, until they spotted each other. All thoughts of the nightmare disappeared as Benrey and Dad’s eyes met.

“Benrey…?”

“Uh. Heh. Hey, Feetman.”

“Benrey, you motherfucker, what are you doing here?” Dad hissed, and he must have been very upset, because he tried not to cuss in front of Joshua.

He stomped towards the window. Benrey reeled away, and made a shrieking noise like a startled cat, and then there was a crash. Joshua stumbled out of bed and looked out the window, just in time to see Benrey scramble off of their back and onto four legs. One of their arms gave out from under them, so they stumbled back up to two feet and sprinted down the alleyway. Dad stared at the open window, before turning and running towards the door. Joshua followed, because Benrey looked scared and hurt and Dad looked really angry. They both ran down the stairs really fast, and Dad threw open the door to the alleyway. It was empty, but there was some blood on the pavement where Benrey fell, which made Joshua really scared. 

Dad stood in the door to the alleyway, panting, and Joshua tugged on his sleeve and pointed at the blood.

“Dad we have to find them, they got hurt!” Joshua wailed. Dad blinked down at the bloody patch. 

“Joshie…” Dad started, his voice all shaky. “Do you- how do you know Benrey?” He kneeled down and put his hands on Joshua’s shoulders, which let Joshua know he was really serious.

“They’re my friend!” Joshua replied, balling up his fists in Dad’s sleeves and tugging at them. “And they got hurt, so we need to go find them, Dad!”

Dad opened his mouth, and then sighed. “Alright, but we’ll talk about this in the car.”

oOo

When they got to the car and Dad’s pulled out of the driveway, Joshua rolled down the window and pokes his head out, and started yelling Benrey’s name. Dad had to grab him by the back of the shirt and made sure he sat down, and fastened the seatbelt for him. Joshua stopped yelling, but he kept looking out the window.

“Look! Sweet voice!” He shouted, pointing out the window at a few clear orbs floating in the air. Dad had to squint to see them, but followed them once he spotted them.

“So? How- how do you even _know_ them?” 

“I met them when I was taking out the trash a couple months ago! They were in the alleyway!”

“I take it that’s why you took a sudden liking to taking out the trash?”

Joshua nodded. “They’re really fun! They look scary but they’re just funny and weird and really nice!”

Dad scoffed. “They’re funny and weird, but they’ve never been _nice_.”

Joshua smacked his hand against Dad’s arm. “You’re mean! They never hurt me and they showed me a lot of cool things and they’re really nice!”

Dad opened his mouth, like he was about to argue more, before closing it. He hummed, like he was thinking things over. Joshua pointed out the windshield. “Look! The park!”

Indeed, the orbs were leading into the park, so Dad parked the car and got out. After a moment of consideration, they grabbed the first aid kit. Joshua fumbled with the seatbelt, but as soon as he got it off and opened the door, he sprinted out into the park, following the fading glow of the clear orbs. It was still dark out, and the sprinklers were going, but Joshua didn’t care, because they saw Benrey curled up on a park bench, holding their arm.

“Benny!” He screamed, and Benrey jumped, eyes first going to Joshua, and then to Dad, who was following close behind. They pushed themself as far into the corner of the park bench as they could, and curled up over their arm.

“Benrey…” Dad was the first to talk. “Let me see your arm.”

Benrey shook their head.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

Benrey mumbled something.

“What’s that?” Dad questioned, kneeling down in front of Benrey, even though his pajama pants were getting wet and dirty.

“I’d deserve it. If you did. ‘m sorry.” Benrey said with a few dirty brown orbs coming out of their mouth with the words.

They held out their arm. It didn’t look broken, but it did look scraped up and swollen and painful, so Joshua looked away.

Dad opened his mouth, but again didn’t say anything. Instead, he opened up the first aid kit and pulled out bandages and a splint. He straightened out Benrey’s wrist, and they hissed.

“I don’t forgive you,” Dad said, and Benrey dipped their head, defeated. Joshua didn’t know what happened, but was about to jump to Benrey’s defense anyway, but- “But I think I could. From what Joshie said, you’ve changed a lot.”

“‘m trying to be good but… I don’t know if I can. It’s easy to be nice to Joshie.”

“Joshua‘ll keep you in line,” Dad said with a slight laugh as he bandaged the wrist. Benrey breathed out sharply, like a little laugh of their own.

Benrey was quiet, until Dad pulled away from their wrist. They flexed their fingers experimentally, and then winced. “So uh- I guess I’ll be finding a new alleyway to sleep in?”

“Or you could just use the guest bedroom?” 

Benrey looked up, eyes sparkling as they spat out a few fiery orbs. “Really? Not clickbait? And they were roommates?”

Dad snorted. “Oh my god they were roommates, no clickbait.” 

Benrey laughed out a few more orbs, smiling more than Joshua had ever seen them smile. Dad reached out a hand, and Benrey took it, letting Dad pull them to their feet and lead them to the car.

  
  


oOo

Even though Joshua would have liked them to be, Dad and Benrey didn’t become friends immediately. There were a lot of times where Benrey would say something weird, and Dad would start yelling, and Benrey would keep making fun of him until one of them stormed off. Sometimes, Dad would see Benrey and get really scared, and sometimes Benrey would see Dad and get really scared.

But eventually, Dad started to explain what Benrey did wrong instead of just yelling, and Benrey would stop mocking him and let him calm down. They’d help calm each other down when they got scared, and if that didn’t work, they would give each other space. 

Benrey and Dad, after about a month of living together, started to get along really well. And then, a month after that, they got along really _really_ well, and Joshua thought it was gross when they kissed, but it made them both happy, so he figured it was ok. 

**Author's Note:**

> Sweet voice translations time!!
> 
> “Benrey blinked, and hissed out a few yellow-white orbs.”  
> Yellow white like paper that’s dated means I’m frustrated.
> 
> “”Look! Sweet voice!” He shouted, pointing out the window at a few clear orbs floating in the air.”  
> Clear means fear.
> 
> “ “I’d deserve it. If you did. ‘m sorry.” Benrey said with a few dirty brown orbs coming out of their mouth with the words.”  
> Brown like silt means I feel guilt.
> 
> “Benrey looked up, eyes sparkling as they spat out a few fiery orbs. “Really? Not clickbait? And they were roommates?””  
> Red and orange like a fire igniting means this is exciting.


End file.
